When I was researching my book, “Good Grief: Finding Peace After Pet Loss,” I found innumerable instances wherein people said they had more difficulty working through the death of a pet than that of a human in their life. In addition to the fact that they’ve lost a 24/7 friend who unconditionally loved them and their lives necessarily have a huge hole left in them, what also makes it harder is the fact that many people withhold permission for animal lovers to adequately grieve that loss.

We’ve all heard someone crassly say, “What’s the big deal? It was just a dog/cat/etc.” Knowing they may receive criticism if they show their true feelings forces many folks who’ve lost pets to rush through, bury or deny their emotions. This can cause problems down the line, including displacing these strong feelings and having them seep out in inappropriate ways and toward the wrong people.

Thank you so much for further validating what the pet lover goes through at this darkest of times.